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Online music subscription service MusicNet announced Thursday that it is delivering its technology platform to distribution partners AOL Time Warner and RealNetworks in anticipation of its upcoming launch.

The service, due to go live later this year, boasts music from label partners BMG Entertainment, EMI Group PLC, Warner Music Group, and Zomba Recording, and is set to be one of the first legitimate alternatives to Napster. In fact, MusicNet jumped into bed with the file-swapping site last June, when the two signed a licensing deal.

The site's technology platform will offer the streaming and downloading of content, and includes digital-rights management provided by RealNetworks' RealSystem Media Commerce Suite.

Thursday's announcement brings MusicNet's service one step closer to getting off the ground, after months of speculation as to when the major labels would make their first forays into subscription services. MusicNet is jockeying for position against rival online service Pressplay, backed by Vivendi Universal SA and Sony Music Entertainment, also due to launch later this year.

Eager to create a Napster alternative after they brought its free-for-all song swapping to a halt for copyright infringement, the five major labels settled into two separate camps with Pressplay and MusicNet. And although they are competing against one another, neither service has been quick on the draw to get online.

"This is just the first step in what will be a long-term business opportunity for MusicNet," Richard Wolpert, strategic advisor to the service said in a statement Thursday. "We are in the business for the long run and see this as a marathon and not a sprint."

MusicNet said that it will be offering a preview of its service to the press and analysts for testing October 5. The preview will be available for 30 days.

MusicNet's technology platform has been in the works for a year, the company said, and includes security features, peer-to-peer file sharing, e-commerce, account and copyright management, customer service support, and advanced search functionality.

While the services are taking their time to get settled in the market, the U.S. Department of Justice has already begun a preliminary investigation of the services, reportedly due to antitrust concerns.

Representatives for MusicNet and Pressplay have suggested that the services cross-license each other in the future, raising fears that they will create a digital music monopoly.

Before that happens, however, consumers, accustomed to getting all the digital music they wanted for free from Napster and similar file-sharing services, will have to embrace the new subscription services. And at this point, nobody really knows how willing consumers will be to pay to play.

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